Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja arrested in bribery probe
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Han Hak-ja, the head of the Unification Church, has been arrested on suspicion of delivering cash and valuables along with various requests to former first lady Kim Keon-hee and People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong.
With Han now in custody, special counsel Min Joung-kie’s investigation into the Unification Church’s alleged bribery scheme is expected to gain momentum. However, the court did not grant an arrest warrant for Han’s former chief of staff, surnamed Jeong.
Judge Jeong Jae-wook of the Seoul Central District Court’s warrant division issued the arrest warrant for Han early Tuesday morning, citing “concerns over destruction of evidence.”
Han, the widow of Unification Church founder Moon Sun-myung, is accused of conspiring with the church’s former director of global operations, Yun Young-ho, to deliver 100 million won (US$72,000) in illegal political funds to Kweon in January 2022 to request support for the church. Yun is currently behind bars and awaits trial on similar charges.
Han also stands accused of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act for allegedly bribing the former first lady to ask for favors regarding church affairs, sending her expensive necklaces and Chanel bags through Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman who also goes by the moniker “Geonjin.”
Additional charges being considered include embezzlement of church funds in this process and instructing the destruction of evidence to cover up investigations into alleged gambling overseas, which is illegal in Korea.
However, the court denied an arrest warrant for Jeong, Han’s former chief of staff, based on grounds including “insufficient evidence proving their status as an accomplice, room for dispute regarding the degree of responsibility,” and the necessity to guarantee the right to due process.
During the five-hour warrant review hearing on Tuesday, the special counsel team gave a 220-slide presentation to underline the necessity of taking Han into custody. However, Han’s legal team denied the allegations, stating she had “never received a report about the fund transfer” and that the incident is “solely the product of Yun’s personal misconduct.”
“I am an interfaith leader and have no relation to politics,” Han reportedly declared during her final statement to the judge. “I go around telling world leaders to honor heaven, but I don’t have any interest in [politics].”
Now that Han, the central figure in the Unification Church’s alleged lobbying of those in the Yoon administration’s orbit, has been detained, the investigation into suspicions of collusion between church and state involving the Unification Church is expected to pick up speed.
The special counsel team plans to first investigate allegations that Han gave Kweon shopping bags containing cash and valuables on two occasions between February and March 2023. Having confirmed that Unification Church members registered as PPP members en masse ahead of the party’s national convention in March 2023, the special counsel probe is also considering a search and seizure of the party headquarters to investigate specifics of their enrollment.
By Jang Hyeon-eun, staff reporter
Content retrieved from: https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1220301.html.
